Currently, Google Assistant can support a lot of smart home
gadgets, but for some devices like A/C units or coffee makers, there’s no easy
way to control them with voice commands. That’s about to change.

If you’re using a smart air conditioner rightnow,
behind the scenes the developer has to classify it as a thermostat in order to
get it to work. This is okay, but it means some commands like turning the fan
on don’t work as smoothly as they should. Other devices like coffee makers or
sprinkler systems don’t have any specialized voice control systems in place
behind the scenes, which means you have to use complicated voice commands “Hey
Google, ask [‘Cuppa Joe’ – ed.] to start making coffee” oreven
turn to third-party services to make it work at all.

Google is fixing this by adding support for seven new device
categories: air conditioning units, air purifiers, coffee makers, fans,
kettles, ovens, and sprinklers. These devices will join the ranks of smart
lights, thermostats, and smart locks to become devices that you can control
directly via Google Assistant without having to jump through hoops. Or, at the
very least, it means developers can set it up that way for you.

What does this mean for you? Well, currently, not much. The
companies behind your favorite products will still need to update their
software to make use of it. But, once they do, you should be able to use simple
commands like “HeyGoogle, turn on the sprinklers” without having to
muck around with making sure you [parse – ed.] every command exactly
right.

Last September, Nest introduced several new offerings aimed
at beefing up your home security. There was the Nest Secure alarm system, an
outdoor version of its Nest Cam IQ and the Nest Hello, its first-ever video
doorbell. The Hello is obviously Nest's answer to Ring, a competing
video-enabled doorbell brand which has since been snapped up by Amazon.

The Hello, however, is a little different, with features like
facial recognition, continuous video recording and HDR video. But getting the
most out of it requires a subscription, and at $229, it's not cheap. Still, if
the idea of a video doorbell intrigues you and you're ready to commit to a
Google-and-Nest ecosystem, the Hello certainly fits the bill.

Best Smart Locks of 2018

The Best Products That Work With
Amazon Alexa

My PDF posting at Lexington Technology Users Group has much
more material on the AI concepts behind Alexa and other Smart Assistants, with
a chilling video about “The Selfish Ledger” (a Google 2016 internal concept
video) as a trailer.

I am only highlighting the content of that presentation here
due to time limitations.

(We can repost the original document at the BNUG site or
elsewhere.)

Amazon will install a full smart home security system for
you

You'll only have to pay once, and packages include the
installation fee.

The
Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around
the world that are now connected to the internet, collecting and sharing data.
Thanks to cheap processors and wireless networks, it's possible to turn
anything, from a pill to an aeroplane, into part of the IoT.
This adds a level of digital intelligence to devices that would be otherwise
dumb, enabling them to communicate without a human being involved, and merging
the digital and physical worlds.

"There are three different ways to deploy cloud
computing resources: public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud."

"How cloud computing works"

"Cloud computing services all work a little differently,
depending on the provider. But many provide a friendly, browser-based dashboard
that makes it easier for IT professionals and developers to order resources and
manage their accounts. Some cloud computing services are also designed to work
with REST APIs and a command-line interface (CLI), giving developers multiple
options."

This means 5G wireless modems,
with no wired connections between the nearest 5G neighborhood node and your equipment.
No technicians enter your home, and no physical setup is required.

It may also mean no need for the
type of franchise agreements which currently limit your selection of local
providers. Only the common “boxes” on utility poles would need to be leased
from other utility companies and permitted.

From time to time, cell phone carriers announce” 5G
networks”. Until very recently, none of these had the characteristics of real
5G communications.

In 2019, Samsung and others will begin releasing true 5g
hotspots, modems (“radios”) and cell phones. Prices and specs have not yet
been announced. Keep in mind, as yet, only 5 US cities have very limited 5g
data networks in place.

Like other cellular networks, 5G networks use a system of
cell sites that divide their territory into sectors and send encoded data
through radio waves. Each cell site must be connected to a network backbone,
whether through a wired or wireless backhaul connection.

5G networks will use a type of encoding called OFDM, which is
similar to the encoding that 4G LTE uses. The air interface will be designed
for much lower latency and greater flexibility than LTE, though.

5G networks need to be much smarter than previous systems, as
they're juggling many more, smaller cells that can change size and shape. But
even with existing macro cells, Qualcomm says 5G will be able to boost capacity
by four times over current systems by leveraging wider bandwidths and advanced
antenna technologies.

The goal is to have far higher speeds available, and far
higher capacity per sector, at far lower latency than 4G. The standards bodies
involved are aiming at 20Gbps speeds and 1ms latency, at which point very
interesting things begin to happen.

“The rise of 5G coincides with the explosion of connected
devices and systems associated with the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart heating
systems, wearables and [TV or video streaming in moving –ed.] vehicles
all bring with them large amounts of data. In addition to more processing
power, 5G promises speeds (at least) 10 times faster than those of 4G...”

“Processing these high volumes of data, at a faster speed,
will require new antennas, new devices, and new applications for wireless data.
No matter what the setup looks like, the influx of additional data - which will
need to be processed in real-time - will drive the need for edge computing.”

Real-time processing also needs to be done at a location
close to where the data will come from and be used.

Networking has to change to keep up with the new 5G speed
and need for Edge Processing.

EasyMesh promises to bring to mesh networks the same
interoperability assurances that conventional routers have long offered. If
Linksys decides to make its Velop product line EasyMesh compatible, and Netgear
does the same, for example, you’ll be able to use Netgear’s Orbi Outdoor access
point with a Linksys Velop router.

That’s important, because to date, Netgear is the only
manufacturer offering an outdoor mesh access point—but it only works with
Netgear’s Orbi-series routers.

(Again, the reference is for the illustration only, not a
recommended reading suggestion.)

"The battle for the Internet of Things has just
begun," [John] Maddison [of Fortinet] said. "The ultimate winners of
the IoT connected home will come down to those vendors who can provide a
balance of security and privacy vis-à-vis price and functionality."

More IoT security tips:

8 tips to secure those IoT devices

Make sure the Internet of Things isn’t a route for
hackers to get into your home or workplace

This is a Netflix streaming-only series which envisions a
dystopian world in which one’s social media reputation and popularity scores
determine everything you may and may not do, and your entire social status.

Given what China is reported to be doing with linking credit
scoring and even “reeducation” sentences with social media scoring, this is not
an impossible future.

Foster (the author) envisions a future where “the notion of a
goal-driven ledger becomes more palatable” and “suggestions may be converted
not by the user but by the ledger itself.” This is where the “Black Mirror”
undertones come to the fore, with the ledger actively seeking to fill gaps in
its knowledge and even selecting data-harvesting products to buy that it thinks
may appeal to the user. The example given in the video is abathroom
scale because the ledger doesn’t yet know how much its user weighs.

The video then takes a further turn toward anxiety-inducing
sci-fi, imagining that the ledger may become so astute as to propose and
3D-print its own designs. “Welcome home, Dave, I built you a scale.”

Foster’s vision of the ledger goes beyond a tool for
self-improvement. The system would be able to “plug gaps in its knowledge and
refine its model of human behavior” — not just your particular behavior or
mine, but that of the entire human species. “By thinking of user data as
multigenerational,” explains Foster, “it becomes possible for emerging users to
benefit from the preceding generation’s behaviors and decisions.”

Foster imagines mining the database of human behavior for
patterns, “sequencing” it like the human genome, and making “increasingly
accurate predictions about decisions and future behaviours.”

“As cycles of collection and comparison extend,” concludes
Foster, “it may be possible to develop a species-level understanding of complex
issues such as depression, health, and poverty.”

Questions? Ideas?

Discussion Time

June 6, 2018 – By Bob Primak,

for Lexington Technology User Group

(Amended for posting at the LTUG Yahoo Group)

This version updated for a shorter talk for the Boston
Network Users Group (BNUG)

BNUG Talk scheduled for Dec. 4, 2018.

– Bob Primak –

– Dec. 03, 2018 (last revision) –

(More revisions pending if time allows.)

Further revised to put in most of the illustrations used,
Dec. 03, 2018, evening, by Bob Primak.